


And they were roommates

by LittleGrayTurtle, morikuro



Category: the GazettE (Band)
Genre: Crack but not really, Fluff, M/M, Questioning, it gets gayer with every second, yes it's exactly what the summary says
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22778158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleGrayTurtle/pseuds/LittleGrayTurtle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/morikuro/pseuds/morikuro
Summary: 'And they are room mates!' Reita shouted at Ruki.'Oh my god, they are room mates...' Ruki gasped.hayley kiyoko - sleepover
Relationships: Aoi/Uruha (the GazettE), Reita/Ruki (the GazettE)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [morikuro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/morikuro/gifts).



The past few months were a breakthrough to them. Not only they started playing in bigger venues. Well, if you could call a little room with a narrow scene a big venue. But it was a huge success for them, when more than one hundred people showed up at their concerts. After all they were just bunch of weirdos, finding joy in playing visual kei music.

If you could call it music, Aoi laughed to himself, thinking about the most recent piece he composed. Adding the not-so-polished Ruki’s vocals and there you had it - a disaster. Yet he was very glad that he’s got a chance to compose music with those four dudes. A part of him knew they would go very far if only they pushed hard enough Because more and more people had their eyes on them. And ears. 

Especially girls. Pretty girls, Aoi smirked to himself, putting on a fresh t-shirt on his well-toned chest. He loved the attention he got from all of the female fans. The squirming and shouting whenever he entered the scene ramped him up so much. Maybe his self-confidence was slightly too reliant on the amount of cheering he’s gotten in one night. Maybe. 

He was masking it with his cockiness, but the truth was that Aoi had a lot of issues with his confidence. Especially when it came to his guitar skills. He was always a little bit self conscious. And it all fault of the lead guitarist from his band. The younger guy seemed to compose songs with such an ease. And the way Uruha handled guitar riffs was extraordinary, taking into consideration how little experience they’ve got so far. 

So every time Uruha walked in when Aoi was practicing guitar, out of a sudden, Aoi always stressed out and had an anxiety attack. What if he messed something up. Uruha never really pointed it out, but Aoi suspected that the younger felt disgusted with his pathetic tries. On the rare occasions when Uruha complimented Aoi’s skills, Aoi’s heart skipped a beat. There was something so intoxicating about the younger boy and Aoi couldn’t exactly pinpoint what, but it felt weird. 

‘Good job tonight, Aoi!’ Uruha said after the show and elbowed his friend, playfully. 

Aoi looked away and blushed. For fuck’s sake why was he blushing. He quickly turned around, pretending to wipe the neck of his guitar with the back of his hand. That made sense. ‘Eh, easy peasy lemon squeezy as they say’ he laughed it off, nervously. ‘You weren’t so bad yourself.’ 

‘I am not so sure,’ Uruha sighed, gloomily. ‘My amplifier isn’t that great and it messes with my focus on stage.’ 

‘You can borrow my old one if you wa…’ Aoi started, but wasn’t able to finish because Reita butted in. 

‘Oh yeah, blame that on the amp.’ Reita poked his tongue out. ‘Not on the emptied bottle of wine before the show.’ 

Uruha just rolled his eyes and walked away to change from the uncomfortable costume. And Aoi would lie if he said he wasn’t checking out Uruha’s slim body slip off the latex pants and ripped top. He really wasn’t doing it on purpose. It just happened to be in the way of his sight. At least that’s how he’s tired to explain it to himself. 

‘I have bad news and good news!’ Kai’s shouting resounded in the room. ‘The good news is that as your new, extraordinary leader, I organised us a stay at a hotel this time, so we don’t have to sleep in a van.’ 

A loud excited cheering could be heard in the backstage. It was still unusual for them to afford a place to stay at. And sleeping in a van in the middle of the winter was pain in the ass. 

‘And what are the bad news?’ Aoi asked, sceptically. 

‘Well,’ Kai sighed and crossed arms on his chest. ‘I only managed to find one single room and two doubles. So we will have to pair up.’ 

‘I think we already know one pair.’ Aoi mumbled bitterly, looking over at Reita who had his palms on top of Ruki’s shoulders. It was an innocent gesture but if you knew what was secretly going on between them, you could catch the touch lingering for a way too long and the fingers digging into to the flesh a bit too harshly. 

And it was hard not to  _ know  _ what was going on between Reita and Ruki when Aoi could vividly recall spotting them making out somewhere in the corner of a storage room, earlier that day. Add Ruki’s constant need for physical contact with Reita? Ruki standing so close to the bassist to ever so slightly have his back touching Reita’s chest? Or Reita wrapping his palm around Ruki’s mochi arms as soon as he had a chance? Please. Aoi was ready to puke rainbow on the spot.

‘You mean us?’ Reita was grinning. His chin was obnoxiously resting on top of Ruki’s shoulder now. 

‘We should all draw straws!’ Uruha said, excitedly while pulling a straw out of a soda can he was drinking from. ‘It’s going to be the most accurate and fair, right?’ 

‘Uruha,’ Kai sighed at his oblivious friend. ‘I think we should agree that Reita and Ruki are going to take one of the rooms to avoid any kind of awkwardness. It’s better for us all that way, okay?’

‘If you say so.’ Uruha mumbled, disappointed. A sparkle in his eyes re-appeared when he realised there was still some issue about the three of them to resolve. He raised the plastic straw up in the air. ‘But we can still draw straws between the three of us, right?’ 

Aoi cleared his throat. ‘Well as the oldest one in the band…’ he looked at Kai with pleading eyes. ‘I will gladly volunteer to take the single room.’ 

‘I mean I guess you should have some kind of advantage as the oldest one, right?’ Kai scratched the back of his head, awkwardly. ‘Uruha?’ 

‘Yeah, I guess’ Uruha sighed and lowered his hand with the straw in it. There was a gloomy expression painted on his face at the moment. ‘It was a stupid idea anyway.’ He summed up. 

‘Okay, let’s draw straws then.’ Aoi said out loud. Goddamnit, he thought to himself. There was something about Uruha’s upset face that couldn’t let him sleep if he hadn’t agreed to the game. Something so irresistible about how the already pouty lips looked even more full on the angelic face of the younger. Aoi just couldn’t stand it haunting him.

‘What?’ Uruha’s eyes lit up. ‘Really?’ 

‘Really?’ Kai asked, a noticeable shock in his voice. 

Aoi sighed. ‘Yes, of course.’ He swallowed loudly. In fact, Aoi absolutely didn’t want to do it because there was a fair chance, a fifty percent chance, if he was doing the maths correctly, that he is going to share a room with Uruha. And it wasn’t on top of Aoi’s wishes list. Okay, it was. But not on the list that he would necessarily want to become true. Sometimes it’s better for some things to remain a fantasy forever. 

Reita took the straw from Uruha’s hand and fished out a pocket knife from his pants. With a blink of an eye Reita had the straw cut in pieces. He turned around and shuffled them only to turn back around and offer the hand with the pieces in it to his friends. ‘Who goes first?’ 

Aoi looked at Kai and noticed him shrugging the shoulders. He extended his hand in a friendly gesture of offering Uruha the place to draw first. Then he scolded himself mentally for it because of the way how Reita and Ruki looked at each other, grinning. 

After Uruha drew the first piece Kai and Aoi followed the suit and pulled on the pieces of plastic. Then they gathered to compared the sizes of the straws in their hands and there was an enthusiastic yell echoing in the room. 

‘I won!’ Kai shouted and threw his fist in the air. ‘A well deserved long night of undisturbed sleep! Bingo!’ 

‘Unless your room is right next to ours’ Ruki threw in Kai’s face, poking his tongue out. 

‘Don’t you  _ dare _ ,’ Kai raised a finger at the vocalist.

‘Did someone say something?’ Ruki threw his bag over his shoulder, a huge grin painted on his face. ‘Is it a voice of a future ex-drummer echoing in the room?’ 

‘Yeah, like you can find a better drummer.’ Kai waved the younger off and crouched to zip up his bag. ‘Go ahead, call Yune and sleep in a van tonight.’ 

‘Fine, you are  _ kind of  _ useful. You can stay. For now.’ The vocalist rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. 

Aoi wasn’t paying much attention to the discussion going on right next to him because he was busy digesting the news. He was sharing a room with the younger guitarist. Aoi’s palms out of a sudden became sweaty. A wave of anxiety so strong shoot through his mind that he completely missed to make sense out of the string of words coming out of Uruha’s mouth that were clearly directed at him. 

‘Excuse me?’ Aoi was avoiding Uruha’s gaze. He wiped his sweaty palms on the top of his thighs. 

‘I just said we are sharing a room.’ Uruha shrugged his arms and walked away to pick up his bag. 

Aoi clenched his eyes close to the point it hurt. The younger was so cold and distant, the tone of his voice so indifferent. When the rest of the band left the room Aoi let out a long sigh, filled with anxiety. 

What am I exactly stressing about, he asked himself while sitting in the van. He spared a glance towards the seat on the left where Uruha was peacefully napping with his face glued to the vehicle’s window.

After all, Uruha was just another man, his band member. And on top of everything, he was kind of a weirdo, Aoi had to admit. Even looking at him right at that moment Aoi could make a list of things that were so lame about the main guitarist. Starting with the horrible pink tank top, finishing with those ugly mid-shin length socks peeking through the unfashionable sandals. 

There was nothing that outstandingly cool about Uruha, when you thought about it. He had strong opinions, especially about the tunes he played and music in general but he never really expressed them properly. The lead guitarist was always swinging his long, slim arms around, over gesticulating, every time he had to explain something. And in his free time when Aoi was busy running after girls, Uruha was most likely spending his time smashing the keys on his PSP controller. 

And when you thought about it, Aoi continued his inner contemplation even when the van’s door were opened and they were supposed to leave the vehicle, even Uruha’s presence on stage wasn’t that great. Whenever they sung, or shouted with Ruki, Uruha’s voice was always barely noticeable. Additionally, if it wasn’t for the excessive amount of alcohol that Uruha poured into himself before the gigs, Aoi wasn’t even sure the guitarist would have enough courage to come out of the dressing room. He definitely wouldn’t be confident enough to skip around the stage and entice the crowds. 

When Aoi eyed the silhouette of the younger it remained an unsolved riddle why the lead guitarist would feel self conscious. Okay, he wasn’t as muscular as Reita or Kai. He definitely didn’t have any ass, Aoi chuckled to himself. But if only he recognized the true potential he had… The full lips, the cheekbones from another galaxy.. If he would be aware of that, he could become a flirtatious devil. Uruha could easily have anything he wanted, wrapping anyone around his finger. 

‘Okay boys, here are your keys.’ Kai outstretched his palm. 

‘Boys?’ Ruki huffed, annoyed. ‘Have a little bit more respect for the rising stars of Japan.’ He took the key and turned on his heel, already picking up a pace towards the hallway. 

‘Sorry’ Reita mouthed to Kai after seeing his annoyed face. Then he quickly ran after the vocalist. 

‘And the two of you,’ Kai reached out the open palm to the remaining members. ‘Here you go.’ 

Aoi and Uruha were took by surprise out of their daze. So as a reflex, both of them extended their arms to take the key at the same time. Which resulted in their hands brushing against each other. 

‘Shit, sorry!’ Aoi immediately pulled the hand away, embarrassed. And it didn’t help when Kai let out a low chuckle and Uruha completely ignored the touch. The night in the hotel room hasn’t even started and it was already a disaster. He simply took off in the direction of the hallway. Aoi sent a murderous gaze at Kai and followed his assigned roommate. 

It was the goddamn indifference that made Aoi crave so much to know more about the younger guitarist. All of the layers of being so private and hidden in his own shell. It was such a mystery to Aoi, who always wore his heart on his sleeve, how someone could be so reserved. ‘What the hell are you feeling?’ Aoi asked in his head as he watched Uruha unlock the hotel room. Because Aoi could pinpoint with easy what he, himself, was going through. Anxiety. A lot of it… 

First thing they noticed after entering the room was how fancy it appeared to be. After all they weren’t expecting much. After all they were just a bunch of rookies. Everything would be much better than sleeping in a van. But the wallpapers in the narrow corridor actually looked luxurious. In silence, both of them threw their bags on the floor and removed their shoes.

‘Wow.’ A short awe escaped Uruha’s lips when he entered the bedroom. ‘Really?’

Aoi followed the younger to the room and saw what Uruha was referring to. Did he mention something about being anxious? Yeah, at that moment he was a ball of stress. ‘Don’t worry I’ve stayed in a hotel like this one.’  _ No, he hasn’t. _ Aoi waved Uruha off, faking confidence. We walked to the bed and grabbing on the wooden base. His palms begun sweating like crazy. ‘I am sure it is one of those beds that you can pull on and separate the mattresses.’ Aoi’s heart was filled with hope. He tugged on the bed with a full force. But nothing was happening. He swallowed loudly.

It was a king-size bed. One mattress. One duvet. Fuck.


	2. Chapter 2

‘W-w-well’ Aoi stuttered. He straightened up and looked Uruha in the face, smiling faintly. ‘I guess it is not.’ 

‘Oh.’ Uruha blinked few times. He wasn’t returning Aoi’s smile. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders. ‘We just have to roll with it I guess.’ 

‘Yeah’ Aoi nodded his head vigorously. It was  _ one  _ of the scenarios that he made in his head in the van. But it was the one he least expected to happen. But there he was. In a hotel room with Uruha. And there was only one bed. ‘Or maybe I could take the bathtub, like you know,’ Aoi proposed. ‘In the movies.’ 

‘I don’t mind.’ Uruha said, rolling his eyes. 

But Uruha’s face looked so petulant, Aoi was frightened. Therefore he carried on with his idea anyway and went to the bathroom to check if the bathtub could even fit him. As soon as he entered the room, he sighed loudly. ‘They only have a shower!’ 

‘Yeah. Whatever.’ Uruha mumbled and threw his bag one of the chairs. He completely ignored his band mate when he came back from the bathroom. Too much focus was being put on madly rummaging in the bag. 

‘Maybe we could call the receptionist and ask if they could switch the rooms or something?’ Aoi asked. With the silent treatment Uruha was giving him, Aoi was feeling the awkwardness already. There was just no way Uruha seriously didn’t mind sharing a bed with him. And as the older one, Aoi felt the responsibility to fix the problem. 

Uruha sighed out loud with his arm still buried deep inside the bag. ‘Kai said he found the last three free rooms in this town, haven’t you heard?’ He huffed, annoyed. ‘Is this really such an issue for you?’ 

‘What?!’ The older raised his voice. He snorted. ‘Of course not. It’s not a problem at all.’ Even though he said so, his palms were sweating excessively. ‘I thought you didn’t want it so I wanted to be nice and all.’ 

‘Where is it?’ Uruha mumbled to himself, still searching for something in the bag.

And it was like that most of the time. Aoi sighed out loud, knowing Uruha wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to him. Every time Aoi tried to friendly tease the younger, he either didn’t get the gist or completely ignored Aoi. The rhythm guitarist was non-existent to him. Except on those rare occasions when they were discussing music. Just like at that moment. Aoi glanced at Uruha. So immersed in his own world. Or maybe successfully shutting Aoi way from his world, how the older was supposed to know if it was intentional. 

‘Got it.’ Uruha smiled gently. Slim fingers wrapped around a leather wallet. He put it in the backpocket of his loose jeans and turned his attention to Aoi. ‘I am going to the nearest konbini, you want anything?’ 

‘Oh.’ It took Aoi by surprise. ‘I guess something to eat would be nice. Instant ramen? Or whatever you will buy for yourself is going to be fine by me as well.’ 

‘Alcohol?’ Uruha proposed while putting his jacket on.

That was even more unexpected. Aoi stood there dumbfounded. Not that he hasn’t ever gotten drunk with the band members. As the older one he felt the responsibility to sometimes take the rest of the GazettE out for the cheapest meal and drinks. But he has never had a chance to have a drink with only Uruha and him. And it frightened him a little bit, he had to admit. Not that he was a weak drinker, he could handle the liquor well enough. It did make his mouth much more loose, though. 

‘So? Beer?’ Uruha repeated the question, his right palm already on the doorknob to the front door. ‘Tequila?’ 

‘Oh no, no, no!’ Aoi immediately denied. He definitely shouldn’t be drinking tequila around Uruha. Not when they were alone. What if he got drunk and all sentimental. What if he started telling Uruha how much he appreciates him and how cool he thinks Uruha is. That wouldn’t be good for his image in his friend’s eyes. ‘Beer is fine. A bottle or two would be refreshing after such a successful gig, a good idea. Let me get my wallet…’ Aoi started but he didn’t get to give the younger any money because Uruha was already gone with a simple ‘See you later.’ 

Aoi turned on his heel and went back to the bedroom. The bed was a king sized one and it definitely could handle two people at once. But why it had to be Uruha and him. Then an idea struck his like a lighting. 

He walked to his bag and fished out a flip phone out of it. Okay, there might have not been any other rooms left in the hotel. Yet there was a chance Ruki and Reita got a room with two separate beds, right? So in few seconds Aoi was calling Ruki. It didn’t even take one dial signal for Ruki to pick up the phone.

‘ _ What? _ ’ Ruki asked, the annoyance clear in his voice. 

‘Hey’ Aoi greeted the vocalist. ‘I was just wondering do you guys have a double bed in your room?’ 

‘ _ No?’  _ There was slight ruffle of bedsheets coming from Ruki’s side. He sounded even more irritated. ‘ _ We have two separate beds?’  _

‘I see,’ Aoi started, hesitantly. ‘Would the two of you maybe, by chance, want to switch for a king-sized double bed?’ 

‘ _ No!’  _ Ruki shouted to the phone. ‘ _ No way in hell!’  _

That was quite unexpected. Aoi raised his eyebrows. ‘I thought Reita and you…’ 

‘ _ No way in hell I am sharing a bed with that asshole, okay?!’  _ Ruki huffed, angrily. ‘ _ We had a fight and he is so totally wrong that I don’t even want him around me in the same room. I am glad he is taking a shower so my eyes can rest from his stupid face.’  _

‘O-kay’ Aoi said, quite confused. ‘Do you want to talk about it or something?’ Aoi didn’t necessarily want to hear about it. But he was a nice person so if Ruki really needed someone to talk to he would listen. 

‘ _ No.’  _ Ruki ended the call. 

Aoi sighed out with a relief. It still sucked a lot that he would have to share a bed with Uruha but least he didn’t have to listen to Ruki’s whining. And he was sure whatever Ruki was mad about was a completely irrelevant and unimportant matter. The youngest member tended to be overdramatic at times. However Aoi was sure that Reita was capable of finding some kind of way to bribe his partner into not being mad at him. Why on Earth was Aoi busy thinking about how cute Reita and Ruki behaved around each other. 

After shaking the thoughts about Reita tenderly massaging Ruki’s shoulders in the dressing room just minutes ago, Aoi decided he needed a shower. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone but it was mainly to wash the jealousy off his mind. 

Hot water was running down his body when he started wondering if it would feel nice if Uruha was massaging his shoulders just like Reita did it to Ruki’s ones. And he knew it wasn’t right. He knew he wasn’t supposed to think like that about his band mate, yet once again he started imaging lead guitarist’s lean fingers gliding over the sensitive nape of his neck, then down his shoulder blades, pressing firmly.

‘Get a grip, Aoi!’ he scolded himself with a sigh and focused on scrubbing the post-live sweat and gunk off his body. His skin was tinted red when he dressed himself up in a loose t-shirt and shorts.

He couldn’t skip the skin care, though. Not many people knew that about him but he absolutely enjoyed having some ‘me time’ after every shower. Simply massaging some cream inside the skin was really therapeutic. It was the cheapest moisturiser on the market but it made such a huge difference when your dermis was dry after a live-long work out under a thick layer of foundation. Aoi was circling his fingertips on top of his face and neck, feeling the pressure disappearing bit by bit from the tensed muscles of his face. He hummed in pleasure, closed the lid of the container and placed it on the small shelf underneath the the bathroom mirror. Then he started second guessing himself. What if Uruha thought Aoi wasn’t manly because he was using face cream. Yeah, he shouldn’t be leaving it on the shelf, he decided and hid it back in the pouch.

There was still no sign of Uruha when he left the bathroom, other than his belongings scattered in piles around the floor. It just felt different way different from sharing a room with all the band members at once. Now it was almost too private, as if they were invading each other’s space. Was Aoi going already mad, or the air smelled different with the presence of the guitarist in the room? 

He was caught off-guard by the door opening abruptly and slamming into the nearby wall, accompanied by a quiet  _ whoops _ and rustling of a plastic bag.

‘I didn’t feel like drinking beer so I took some sake for myself’ Uruha said, stepping out of his shoes and shrugging the jacket off his shoulders, tossing it carelessly onto the bed together with the shopping bag. ‘Man, I need a shower’ he continued and Aoi wasn't sure if he was supposed to say anything back or Uruha was just talking to himself as he sometimes would.

'The soap they have here smells really nice' Aoi decided to notice, plopping on the bed awkwardly and reaching out for the groceries to see what else was there to binge on. He could catch a glimpse of potato crisps peeking through.

'Oh yeah? Cool' was all his bandmate retorted, shutting the doors behind himself and Aoi could actually feel his shoulders slouching slightly. Why did he always have to say some completely unnecessary bullshit? And why Uruha always seemed so bored by anything Aoi said? Ah yes, right. Because you  _ are  _ a tedious idiot, Aoi, that's why. He thought to himself, losing interest in the crisps halfway through retrieving the pack. Something he had fantasized about for so long and played out so many different scenarios for, was taking a completely different turn from what he had imagined. Actually, it was going to be a trainwreck, Aoi was sure of that. He wasn't ready to have his dreams ruined like that.

The sound of something falling in the bathroom made him snap out of his thoughts and he almost scowled. He quickly run to the bathroom door. Aoi’s hand was on the door knob, about to press on it, when he realised it would be inappropriate. Oh my god, seeing Uruha naked, even if he was lying unconscious on the bathroom floor. No, no, no. Definitely. A no. Aoi backed off and threw himself on the nearest wall with a loud thud. He prayed to every god that existed, not that he necessarily believed in one, Uruha was there, in a shower, doing great and it was just a shampoo bottle falling down from the shelf. The air was sucked inside his lungs with a wheeze and kept inside for the next few seconds. Keeping silent like that gave him the opportunity to hear Uruha mumble few annoyed ‘Fucks’ behind the door. Aoi exhaled, relieved. At least he was sure Uruha was alive.

Assuming the younger would call for help if he actually needed a hand, Aoi came back on the bed and tried hard to erase every vision of naked Uruha in his head. To busy himself with something he came back to binging on the crisps. Smooth meaty thighs. _ Cronch. _ Chest with protruding sternum and ribs visibly showing through the milky skin.  _ Cronch _ . Nipples. _ Cronch. _ Would he have pubic hair?  _ Cronch, cronch, cronch, cronch.  _

Right when he made the sounds of chewing on the crips loud enough to deafen the loud thoughts in his brain, the bathroom opened with a loud slam. There he was. Damp hair clinging to his soft cheeks, towel thrown over his shoulders to catch the stray droplets of water and protect his... soccer jersey from getting wet. A soccer jersey. A blue-and-white shirt and matching shorts, with Okubo's name representing Japan's national team written right above number 9. Right. Out of all people, Uruha was the person who could claim such a set as his pyjama of choice. Aoi turned his gaze down to not stare too much at his bandmate's legs as he walked towards the bed, grabbed the bag and took out a bottle of sake. Scrutinizing the surroundings he had found a set of two glasses and proceeded to open a bottle and pour himself some alcohol, all that while being hunched above the small coffee table, leaving Aoi no choice but to check out his behind a couple of times. And damn, what he was imagining just moments before, didn’t prepare him for that. At all. 

'So, what are you mad about?' Uruha asked and Aoi felt like he was punched in the face.

'Mad? I'm not mad' he retorted, watching the younger male as he took a sip and exhaled deeply, the sound turning into something resembling a hiss at the end.

'Uh-huh. If you really wanted to have that single room, you could've just talked to Kai, you know' the lead guitarist shrugged his shoulders and stood there kind of awkwardly, trying to find himself a spot to sit down and eventually deciding to move their bags from the chair to the floor and have a seat by the coffee table.

'It's not that. I don’t mind’ Aoi answered, trying to sound as casual as possible, he fished out a bottle of beer for himself and opened it with a hotel room key lying on the bed.

‘You didn’t act like you didn’t mind though.’ Uruha pushed the older a little bit harder. 

‘I was just surprised, that’s all’ Aoi shrugged his shoulders and raised the bottle to his lips. The beer was kind of warm and tasted cheap but that’s how he was used to drinking it already. Not that he had drunk much of expensive beer in his life. The silence lingered awkwardly between them. Usually there would be Ruki to fill the gaps with his mindless chatter, or Kai to talk about some irrelevant things, but with Uruha, he rarely spoke up when they were alone. Aoi was jealous of the relationship Reita or Ruki had with the lead guitarist, the three of them seemed to be the good friends that felt casual and natural with each other. He could only wish for that kind of relationship with the band members.

‘Can you pass me a natto roll?” Uruha pleaded, apparently too lazy to get up and get to the shopping bag. The older guitarist grabbed the rustling plastic with his toes and pulled it towards himself to reach inside.

‘You need chopsticks for this?’ he asked, seeing the number of sets a bit excessive for two packs of instant ramen.

‘No, I need them for the crisps’ the other exclaimed unconcerned, already busy tearing the wrapping open.

‘For what?’

‘The crisps. To not get my fingers dirty’ he sighed, eyeling Aoi with a bit of disappointment that he had to ask. Right. Of course. Every normal, sane person ate crisps with chopsticks. Aoi ceased to ask questions though. ‘The tuna roll is for you’ the younger added and Aoi couldn’t help but smile and melt a little at this tiny form of generosity.

They just sat there in silence, enjoying the food and the rest and the warm alcohol, until Uruha suggested taking turns to play games on his console. They sat on bed, not bothered about the crumbs in bed, (but bothered about the flavouring dust on the fingers enough to use chopsticks apparently), exchanging the console between each other while playing Tekken and some racing game Aoi hasn’t seen before. That one bottle of beer and two glasses of sake made them feel more relaxed and Aoi almost forgot about the existence of the lead guitarist’s smooth legs right in front of him.

Halfway through his second beer, Uruha had already downed the entire bottle of sake by himself and was considerably intoxicated. That resulted in Aoi’s chances in winning the games increasing and the other guitarist’ patience significantly dropping. Thus, besides forcibly taking away his console to have his revenge, he was pouting far more often. And Aoi had a very hard time keeping his urges to give him the quickest kiss on the lips under control.

‘I wanna have a smoke’ Uruha said suddenly, pausing the game and tossing the console onto the bed. Getting up he stumbled over his own feet, but eventually he slipped into his slippers. He had troubles to find the pack of cigarettes.

‘It’s okay, I can lend you mine.’ Aoi offered, getting up from the bed himself. 

They went out to the balcony, the chilly air making Aoi’s skin prickle with goosebumps. Uruha shivered, mumbling something about it being cold and going back inside to put on a jacket just in time before Aoi would embarrass himself and offer a hug. Aoi sighed out loud and pulled out a cigarette out of a box. He lit it up and took a deep drag. There fog coming out of his mouth mixed with the cold breeze, escaping in the direction of nowhere. He wished he could evaporate into nothingness like that as well, because the alcohol started kicking in his veins. Aoi was anxious there would be one too many things slipping from between his lips. 

‘I’m back!’ Uruha said much more louder than usual.

‘Oh!’ Aoi jumped up, taken by surprise. He was used to Uruha speaking in a soft, barely audible voice of his. Not thinking about it much and blaming it on the alcohol, Aoi fished out second cigarette from his pants and handing it to Uruha. ‘Here you go.’

With a hint of struggle in his movements, the younger put it in between his pouty lips. He leaned in closer to Aoi’s face. 

At first Aoi immediately pulled back from the sudden movement. Then he understood Uruha wanted for Aoi to take a drag to lit his own cigarette. So he did. With a bit of a struggle the tips of their cigarettes touched and in a moment they were both exhaling clouds of smoke out of their lungs. For a moment Aoi’s gaze met with Uruha’s hazy eyes. And he genuinely bared his teeth at the younger. He seemed to be at ease. 

‘I love being in a band. It’s so cool making music with all of you.’ Uruha admitted. He leaned his back against the balcony and bent his back ever so slightly that his torso was hovering in the air. ‘The sky is nice’ Uruha gasped in an awe and took another drag of a cigarette.

‘What are you doing?!’ Aoi asked, panicking. He pulled on Uruha’s jacket. Instant regret washed over his body when Uruha instead of straightening up, lost his balance and bumped right into Aoi’s chest with his own one. As a reflex, Aoi threw his arm around Uruha’s slim body and squeezed him closer. ‘Woah, hold on there.’ 

‘Sorry’ Uruha giggled and wriggled out of Aoi’s grip. He took another deep drag. The world was still spinning around him so with few uncertain steps he reached the wall and leaned his back on it. ‘Sorry.’ Uruha repeated himself.

Aoi simply waved his band mate off, chuckling under his nose and reaching for the pack of cigarettes to tug out another one. He eyed the younger from head to toes. And when his stare came back to Uruha’s face, he realised how much chubbier it looked without the makeup. And so much cuter. Aoi couldn’t resist a gentle smile. 

Uruha immediately shied away from the stare. He bit his lower lip with his sharp teeth.

Great job, you idiot, Aoi congratulated himself in his head. You scared him away. He looked away from the younger and flicked the ash off the cigarette into the air. The wind’s intensivity increased, ruffling Aoi’s black hair. He run his hand through the hair, pulling the annoying strands away from his face. While he was doing it he could swear he felt an intense gaze on himself. So he dared to look at Uruha one more time. Once again he was met with Uruha quickly shying away, pretending nothing has happened. 

Not sure if it was Uruha or Aoi’s own brain playing games with him, Aoi decided he’s had enough and threw the cigarette’s butt on the ground, putting it off with his slipper. He rushed inside with a displeased growl. There was another bottle of beer waiting for him in one of the plastic bags and he took it without the slightest bit of a hesitation. Maybe if he drunk enough he would pass out on the bed and not stress about the body lying next to him. 

Aoi plopped on the floor, his back supported by the foot end of the bed. He took a solid sip of the beer. Mixed with the remaining nicotine in his mouth, it was even less palatable. Yet he didn’t stop gulping on the tepid drink. Not until he heard the balcony door being closed. Followed by the sound of jacket being carelessly thrown on the floor. It frightened him an he started choking on the liquid. 

‘Are you okay?’ Uruha asked, concerned. He sat next to his band mate. ‘Aoi?’

_ Cough. _ ‘Yeah.’  _ Cough. Cough. _ ‘I-I-I’m fine.’  _ Cough. _ Aoi was genuinely surprised with the amount of care that could be found in Uruha’s stare. ‘Don’t enter so suddenly next time.’ 

‘Sorry’ Uruha mumbled and looked down. He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you.’ The younger was nervously scrubbing the nail polish off his nails. 

‘It’s okay.’ Aoi waved the younger off, recognizing how remorseful he was. ‘Doesn’t matter anymore, does it?’ 

‘If you say so.’ Uruha whispered and raised his head ever so slightly. 

Aoi couldn’t take off his gaze from the brown pupils. They remained covered with a haze of intoxication as much as they were on the balcony. There it was, alcohol talking. Aoi was aware of it. Uruha wouldn’t even remember it by the morning, he could bet money on it. Yet maybe making himself believe for a moment that Uruha cared about him and actually fancied spending time with Aoi, wasn't that big of a sin. 

The awkward silence begun to lie heavy on both of them, therefore Aoi took it upon himself to break the ice. 'The song that you were showing Reita today, at the rehearsal,' Aoi downed another sip of the beer. 'I think it's a great one.' 

'Oh' Uruha gasped. 'It's a ballad, though.’ His face grew gloomier.’ I don't think I can convey emotions as well as you in my music so I will be depended a lot on Ruki's skill as a lyricist.'

'Do you like my ballads?' Aoi asked, not even hiding the surprise in the tone of his voice He could feel the tingling heat gradually appearing on his cheeks.

'Yeah' Uruha admitted, nodding his head. ‘You are good at it.’ 

‘Thanks.’ Aoi chuckled, flattered by what his band made said. Never in the past two years Uruha praised him so openly. There was even a hint of jealousy in what he was saying. 

Aoi downed the rest of beer. He fiddled with the empty bottle, nervously. The awkward silence was back between them.

It definitely wasn’t helping that Uruha had his face perched on his knees, observing Aoi very cautiously. He rotated his head little to the left, little to the right, amused by the way the light fell differently on Aoi’s metal lip ring. ‘Did it hurt?’ he asked. 

‘What?’ It took a moment of thinking for Aoi to think of a response. ‘When I fell from heaven?’ He joked. 

‘The lip piercing.’ Uruha explained and smirked. 

Aoi wasn’t entirely sure if Uruha was aware how flirtatious he behaved at that moment. What was it all about. Aoi was on the fence. Was he supposed to play along, was this some kind of game Uruha was playing with him. Was this a suggestion that the younger fancied him. Or was it all a There was a storm going through Aoi’s head. Was Uruha expecting him to shrug the question off and play it cool, like he always did. Or should he simply tell the truth. He decided on the latter. ‘Yeah, a little bit.’

‘Why did you do it?’ Uruha wondered out loud. He kept on moving his head left to right. 

‘It looks cool.’ Aoi shrugged his arms. The answer seemed not to please Uruha’s curiosity, he raised his eyebrows, beckoning Aoi to give him another one. ‘Girls like it?’

‘I see.’ Uruha lowered his gaze. Suddenly the carpet became much more interesting than Aoi’s face. ‘Girls’ Uruha whispered.

‘Well, yeah. Girls. It makes the sex better.’ Aoi said and placed the empty bottle on the floor. He relaxed a little bit just on the mere thought of it. He leaned his head back and rested it on the mattress. 

Few seconds have passed and there were no words coming from Uruha. Aoi started worrying he has said or done something wrong. He looked at the younger only to find him looking at the ground, kneading the brim of his jersey shirt that was now stretched around his legs. Aoi recognized that he must have made the younger feel uncomfortable. Whenever Uruha was stressed about something, you could spot him busying himself with something. Whether it was playing the guitar backstage before the gig; or stretching the fingers while being anxious to say something. After so many months together Aoi noticed it. 

‘I have to pee’ Aoi stood and took a walk of shame to the bathroom. Excellent job, you moron, you made Uruha uncomfortable. Good luck sharing a bed with him now, when he didn’t even want to look you in the face. He eyed the bathroom while peeing, only to spot something was clearly wrong with the plastic curtain in the shower. For a while Aoi couldn’t quite pinpoint what, but when he investigated closely, it turned out the whole curtain must have been ripped off the clips and carelessly thrown back on the metal frame. 

‘What an idiot’ Aoi chuckled to himself. It must have been the reason of the weird noise few hours ago. Aoi pulled his pants up and walked out of the bathroom. Due to the surprise in the bathroom he allowed himself to forget all of the awkwardness from just moments before. But the guilt was back, embodied in a huge lump in his throat when he found Uruha was already asleep on the bed. 

There you go, Aoi. You had your chance there to tighten the relationship, become closer friends,  _ or friends at all _ , with Uruha. And there you have it - Uruha is already asleep, you probably freaked him out. Excellent. He sighed loudly and turned the lights off. 

Aoi sat on the side of the bed Uruha wasn’t occupying. He listened to the steady breath of the younger for few seconds. How exactly was that supposed to work. Should he just casually slide under the duvet, next to his bandmate. There was too much thinking done that day anyway, so Aoi shook off his slippers and gently, trying hard not to wake up Uruha, lied under the sheets. 

He could feel Uruha’s body heat radiating right next to him, the breathing of the fellow band member steady and deep. His angular, sharp shoulders seemed more rounded in the dark, as his body relaxed and curled up slightly. Aoi wanted to just slide in closer to the boy and embrace him, place his cheek on the protruding spine and hold his body close to himself, feel the other’s skin on his own. Scolding himself in his mind for such thoughts, he flipped himself over to the other side, hoping averting such a tempting sight would also let him focus on falling asleep as soon as possible. No more goddamn thinking. As the sheets ceased to rustle when he finally got comfortable, the room got quiet again, the murmur of the city behind the window became more prominent and all of a sudden, too annoying. God, he just wanted to comb his fingers through the blonde hair, bury his face in them, inhale the scent of the peachy shampoo they were provided at the hotel.

The sheets rustled softly again and he felt the heat more directly, as Uruha’s silhouette pressed against his back. Aoi lifted his head and looked back over his shoulder, checking up on his bandmate to see if he’s as asleep as he was before. Or seemed to be at least. 

‘Hope you don’t mind’ the blonde murmured sleepily. Did he really not mind? He both - did and didn’t. Sure, that was something he wished for, having the other man so close, but then it completely ruined his ability to focus on sleeping now. ‘It’s comfy.’

‘It’s fine’ Aoi murmured under his breath, because he indeed did feel quite breathless at the moment.

‘Nice’ Uruha’s voice came quite muffled and Aoi could only guess that he had pressed his face into the pillow. ‘I like that feeling. Of having someone behind my back. Hope it doesn’t sound too gay’ he giggled a bit excessively. 

‘No, it doesn’t.’ Aoi assured his bandmate. ‘It’s cute.’ He whispered, barely audible. And for some wicked reason, he did not ask more question. Maybe it was the alcohol in his veins. Maybe it was the effect of Uruha himself. But Aoi didn’t care anymore. Not when the warm body of Uruha was pressed next to him. In the morning they could pretend none of this happened. They most likely will. But Aoi was going to drink everything out of that moment while it lasted. Deciding so, he wriggled his body even closer to Uruha’s one and allowed himself to relax completely, slowly drifting away into sleep. 

  
  


‘Do you think they fucked?’ Ruki asked, taking a drag of a cigarette, his body sprawled on top of Reita’s torso. ‘Realistically speaking.’

‘Of course they didn’t. I just hope Aoi didn’t have one  _ too many  _ crises the past night’ Reita laughed. ‘But I guess what we have in common, is both Aoi and I had a pretty uncomfortable night.’ Reita looked suggestively at his boyfriend.

‘I have no idea what you are implying on’ Ruki pulled out the innocent card, but there was nothing innocent in his devil smile. ‘We just  _ accidentally _ left our bandmates the key to a room with a king sized bed.’ 

‘Yeah but I would honestly love to sleep in it, not being cramped on a single with you.’ Reita sighed out loud but there was a faint smile on his face. He was mainly teasing.

‘I have  _ no clue _ what you are talking about’ Ruki repeated himself. He stood up only to put off the cigarette in an ashtray on the bedside table. Shortly he threw himself on top of Reita once again, making him hunch and exhale with a mewl. He wrapped his legs around Reita’s thigh. ‘I am quite comfortable.’ 

‘Do you want to know a secret?’ Reita asked, mysteriously. 

‘Of course I do’ Ruki replied, offended. By that time his boyfriend should know he would love to know  _ all  _ of Reita’s secrets. 

‘Uruha is a night cuddler Reita chuckled. 

‘Yeah I know?’ Ruki raised an eyebrow at Reita. ‘He spooned me once when we shared a bed.’ 

‘He what?!’ Reita cried out, but was quickly silenced with a full mouth landing on top of his crusty lips.

Ruki pulled away. ‘Nothing.’ He smiled devilishly and leaned in to give Reita another kiss, this time a proper one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was written in collaboration with morikuro uwu

**Author's Note:**

> wink wonk  
> it wil get gayer ;)


End file.
